Thursday, July 1, 2010

The biggest non-surprise in Bobcats' offseason news so far this season (which I wrote about in today's newspaper) is that center Tyson Chandler -- after supposedly careful consideration -- decided NOT to opt out of his contract and instead take the $12.6 million the Bobcats are obligated to pay him for the 2010-11 season.

Fortunately, that season is Chandler's last under this current deal, in which he is ridiculously overpaid for what he produces. Let's be fair first of all -- the Bobcats inherited that deal, they didn't make it. But it is crazy. Chandler ranks as the team's highest-paid player, and it's not even close.

This is despite the fact that he's not close to being one of the Bobcats' best two players (Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson). This is despite the fact that he was usually the THIRD center to enter the game in the Orlando playoff series (Coach Larry Brown basically considered Chandler the starter, he said, but preferred to let Theo Ratliff and Nazr Mohammed pick up all the early fouls on Dwight Howard).

Chandler is a classic tease of a player -- a seven-footer who can run the floor and is decently athletic. But if he's not dunking, he's not scoring. And while he can rebound and block shots when healthy, he's too often not healthy. I could be wrong on this, but I don't see Chandler as being a whole lot better next season than he was this season, and then after that I don't see him here at all.

I'm sure Chandler thought a little about opting out and testing the market. But then he came to his senses. When you're about to get a guaranteed $12.6 million, you don't do anything stupid. And Chandler didn't.